Amherst Regional High School students plan walkout, discussion about racism to honor Michael Brown By SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writer Wednesday, December 3, 2014 AMHERST — At least 13 students at Amherst Regional High School plan to leave campus shortly after noon Thursday to honor Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed in a confrontation with a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. The students, who plan to hold a moment of silence around 12:10 p.m., will then walk to the Jones Library, where they will hold a private discussion on institutional racism and the reaction to last week’s decision by a grand jury not to indict the police officer for his role in Brown’s death. Sajo Jefferson, one of the student organizers of the walkout, issued a statement, signed by 12 other students, explaining that the walkout is not a protest against the high school’s administration and is also not affiliated with any regional anti-racism campaigns or the Justice for Carolyn organization, the community group supporting math teacher Carolyn Gardner, who during the last academic year was subjected to racist and hostile acts. “We feel the need to create a space to have an open dialogue on Ferguson in a manner that the administration will not be able to support during the school day,” according to the statement. The walkout is planned after a grand jury refused to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot Brown. Wilson told the grand jury that he was assaulted by Brown, while some witnesses testified that Brown had his hands in the air at the time he was shot and killed. “We invite you to consider the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent grand jury decision not as an isolated incident, but in the context of America’s racist criminal justice system and our nation’s history of police and vigilante murder of black youth in America,” the statement reads. “Furthermore, we hope to use the momentum from this tragic case to examine issues within our school and town community including police harassment of black and Latino youth and the many obstacles that prevent students of color from achieving success in our school system.” The students say in their statement that they are prepared to face the consequences, including discipline. “While we understand that the school cannot endorse our actions, we request that faculty and staff respect the actions of all students. Participants in the walkout will not be presenting passes to the office for dismissal from school in an act of civil disobedience and we recognize and accept all disciplinary action that must be taken due to this fact.” High school principal Mark Jackson said in an email that after-school detention is the consequence for first-time offenders who have an unexcused absence from class, but added that school officials view student behavior developmentally and understand that students can grow through political activism and organizing conversations about racism. “As a result, we will hopefully balance well the need to maintain the school’s routine with supporting those students who choose to participate in the walkout,” Jackson said. Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 03:56:21 +0000
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